The French Football Federation (FFF) expects their proposal by this Thursday, December 5 evening. Union-Saint-Jean, resident of Régional 1the sixth division, does not have an approved stadium to host Monaco during the historic 32nd finals of the Coupe de France the weekend before Christmas. But the small amateur club has resources and aims high.
The Stadium, objective number 1
It is the den of football in Haute-Garonne, the one which saw Maradona, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé. The Toulouse Stadium would be the ideal solution. Especially since Union-Saint-Jean is a partner club of TFC, whose leaders have excellent relations with Damien Comolli who also let the amateurs know that they were welcome, since in any case the Violets will travel to the Lyon region that weekend for the Coupe de France.
It remains to be seen whether financially the operation is feasible. It is Toulouse Métropole, owner of the infrastructure, which would have the last word. We remember that last year, US Revel did not retain Ramier, preferring Pierre-Fabre to Castres to accommodate PSG, closer and smaller and therefore more easily “fillable” (12,500 places). With 33,000 seats, the Stadium, even half full, would sound a little empty. And if Monaco constitutes a prestigious opponent, it is not the elite club which attracts the most curious people ( 24,000 spectators for TFC Monaco on December 20, 2023) and we must not count on Monegasque supporters to fill the stadiums. What is certain is that the popular enthusiasm around the USJ, last small amateur club from Occitanie in the runningis running at full capacity and that the club has received support from other clubs in the Toulouse region who could mobilize their licensees to support the Haut-Garonnais.
Ernest-Wallon, why not?
The other favorite option for the Unionais is the Toulouse Rugby stadium. With 19,000 seats, Wallon offers a legendary setting and the certainty of lucrative ticket sales, like the Stadium. Here too, the management team of Stade Toulousain informed the small football club that it could, if it wished, use the infrastructure of the rugby stars. Here again, it's not that simple, it's the Association of “Friends of the Stadium” which owns the stadium.
Et Wallon has not hosted official football matches for 17 years apart from a few meetings with women or young people. There was a League Cup meeting in September 2007 between TFC and Caen because of the Rugby World Cup, and before that the consequences of AZF in 2001 which made the Stadium unusable.
The real obstacle in Wallon would therefore rather be the approval of the structure for football matches with very precise specifications in terms of size of touches, goals, etc.
The Albi Stadium as a final option, rather than an amateur stadium
The other avenue studied by the leaders of Union-Saint-Jean is the Albi Stadium, used to major events like the French athletics championships and which usually welcomes rugby players from the Sporting Club Albigeois (RCA) in the National. The enclosure can accommodate 14,500 spectators with more than 8,000 seats.
If it takes an hour's drive to Albi, the Tarn Stadium offers a capacity and therefore a much more interesting ticket office than the other pitches in Haute-Garonne. The Capitany stadium in Colomiers is approved for high-level matches he has already received the round of 16 of the Coupe de France in 2018 (Colomiers-Sochaux). But it only has 1,500 seats to offer. The Colomiers rugby stadium, Michel-Bendichou, is not an option since Colomiers Rugby welcomes Biarritz on Friday December 20.
Last year, the FFF only revealed 10 days after the draw which speaker was chosen for the Revel-PSG poster.
